The Call That Changed Everything
by TotalCSIfan
Summary: It's hard to lose a friend but Nick never thought it would be this hard. WARNING: This story contains spoilers from 9X1 and it features a character death. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy it! Reviews appreciated!


Disclaimer: I own nothing of CSI

The Call That Changed Everything

It was late at night and Jackie Stokes was curled up in bed with a bowl of popcorn watching a movie her husband would describe as a "chick flick." Her husband would have been home, except an hour ago Nick had called her to say that he and the team were going out for breakfast to celebrate, he had invited her but she didn't feel like going out at this hour-a decision that she had no idea she would regret for the rest of her life. It was just getting into the good part of the movie when the phone rang, she sighed, hit pause on the DVD remote and picked up the phone. The Caller I.D said Nick.

"Hey babe, how was breakfast, are you on your way home?" she asked into the phone.

"No" Nick said simply, Jackie immediately knew there was something wrong, Nick's voice was shaking.

"Nick what's wrong?" There was no answer "Nicky, what is it?" his wife asked again, growing even more concerned.

With his voice trembling he stuttered "Warrick…Warrick's…been…..he was shot."

She gasped "Ok honey I will be at Desert Palm in ten minutes." She said quickly.

"He's not at Desert Palm." Nick said.

"Oh then what other hospital did they take him too?" She asked.

"He's not at a hospital." Nick said, obviously crying.

Jackie could not comprehend what her husband was telling her. She had a sad feeling she already knew the answer to the next question but she asked it anyway, because what she was thinking simply could not be true. "Honey, what are you telling me?" she asked, barely able to speak.

"He…..he….didn't…..didn't…..Warrick died." Nick could not say another word, he put down the phone, leaned back against the chair he was sitting in and just sobbed.

Jackie felt like somebody had just punched her right in the stomach as hard as they could. With tears now streaming down her face she said "Oh my God baby I'm so sorry, are you at the lab?"

Nick picked the phone back up, and managed to say "yeah."

"Alright, I will be there soon."

Jackie was out the door in a flash, she drove faster then she should have, trying to get there as soon as possible. While on the way she thought about what this must be like for her husband. Ever since she had met Nick, he and Warrick had been inseparable, best friends, they were around each other constantly. Jackie could not count the times that Nick had come home barely able to move because Warrick had challenged him to a competition of who could lift the most weights while working out together at the gym.

She smiled thinking about the time that Nick had come home and proudly said "I won" and Jackie had laughed and said "yeah you won alright, you can't move because you are so sore." Nick didn't mind the pain though.

Warrick would also come over to their house nearly every time the couples favorite basketball team played to watch the game with them, the guys would always tease Jackie that it was more fun watching her then the game itself because she would become so excited, she would start jumping around the room, cheering wildly, the guys knew they better be careful when she got so excited because they were in danger of getting a high five to the face, or at the very least have their hands sting. Or if the game was not going well she would yell at the TV, her anger either directed towards the officials or the players themselves. Warrick would always laugh and say "That's it Jackie, you tell um." She would just simply say "shush Rick." The guys would just laugh.

Jackie could not imagine what Nick was going through right now, Jackie herself recently had one of her best friends' move several hours away, she had time to prepare herself for it, but it was still very hard, but at least she spoke to her friend frequently on the phone, couple times a week minimum. Nick had absolutely no time to prepare for this, and there would be no phone conversations with Warrick to help him cope, he was gone, gone forever. Tears streamed down her face at this thought, she quietly whispered to herself "I'm so sorry Nicky."

Jackie got to the lab and quickly ran to find her husband, upon entering she found Grissom, Cath and Greg, all standing in a hallway. She noticed Catherine was crying hard and Grissom and Greg looked sick. She went to Catherine first, gave her a huge hug and told her how sorry she was.

She then gave Greg a hug and said "I'm so sorry Greggo."

Then she wrapped her arms around Grissom without saying a word.

"Where's Nick?" she asked after releasing Grissom. Grissom nodded towards the break room. She could see her husband through the glass windows of the room, he had his head in his hands.

"He won't come out of there, and he won't talk to any of us." Catherine said.

"Oh God" Jackie said quietly, and then she looked at Grissom and asked "may I?"

Grissom gave her a slight smile and nodded, so Jackie headed to the break room.

"Nicky" she said softly when she entered the room, but he didn't even look up. She went to him, got on her knees and grabbed his hands, her husband was shaking, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Nicky, shuuu, it's alright, it's ok, we'll get through this, I promise." She said, trying to calm him down. Nick allowed her to wrap her arms around him.

He put his head on her shoulder and said "It's not fair, it's not fair, Warrick was too good of a person to have this happen."

"I know sweetheart, you're right, it isn't fair." What Nick said next shocked her

"This is all my fault." He said, looking her in the eye for the first time.

"Honey what are you talking about, of course it isn't your fault." She said.

"Yes it is, Rick and I were the last two at the diner, he wanted to go home, but instead of walking him out his car, I sat there and had another cup of coffee. My best friend sat in his car bleeding to death and I sat there drinking coffee without a care in the world."

"Honey, you didn't know." She said trying to console him.

"I knew there was a crazy cop still out there, why didn't I walk him to his car, how could I be so stupid."

"Baby, don't torture yourself, it isn't going to help anything."

"How can I not torture myself Jackie, Warrick always had my back, always, and when he needed me the most, I let him down, I did nothing to help, I let him sit in his car and die."

"Nicky, you did help him, without you and the rest of the team he would be sitting in prison right now."

"We should have let him go to prison, he would have been much better off." Nick said somewhat bitterly.

"No, Nick, Warrick would have hated that, just like you said he was a wonderful person, and he would not have been able to stand the thought of people thinking he was a murderer."

Nick sighed, "I guess you're right."

Jackie went a got a chair from the other side of the table and sat down next to Nick, then she wrapped her arm around him again.

"Jackie do me a favor." Nick said.

"Anything" she said.

"Wake me up from this hellish nightmare." Nick said.

"I wish I could Nicky." She said.

They sat there for 15 minutes and neither said a word.

Finally Jackie said "Do you want to go join the others?"

"No" Nick said.

So again they just sat there. About a half hour later Jackie glanced out the windows and into the hallway, was she crazy or did she see Sara Sidle standing there. She looked again, yes that was definitely Sara.

"Nicky, Sara is here, do you want to go say hi?" She asked.

"Jackie I am in no mood for jokes, now cut it out." He said clearly annoyed.

"That wasn't a joke, she really is here." Jackie said.

Nick glanced out into the hallway.

"Hey that is Sara." Nick said sounding surprised.

"Want to go say hi?" She asked him again.

"I guess I should huh?" he said.

"You don't have too, I am sure she would understand." She said.

"No, I want to, come with me will you?" he asked.

"Of course" she said and they stood up and walked into the hallway, but by the time they got out there, everyone was gone.

"I wonder where everyone went" Jackie said.

"Let's check Grissom's office" Nick suggested so they walked down the hall.

They found the whole gang in his office. The couple both gave Sara a hug. Then the CSI's started talking about the investigation.

"I know I can't do anything in terms of law enforcement but I do want to help anyway that I can." Jackie said immediately.

"No dear, I want you to stay the night at one of your friends' houses." Nick said.

"I'm not leaving." Jackie said immediately.

"Jackie, I'm not kidding, there is a nut job cop on the loose, this could get even more dangerous, and I don't want you anywhere near it, I don't even feel comfortable with you staying at home alone tonight."

"But Nick, I want to help." She protested

"You have helped, you came down here immediately and showed your support."

"But…" Jackie started to argue but Grissom jumped in.

"Jackie Nick is right, this could get a lot worse before it gets better, I think it would be best if you left."

She sighed and said "Alright, I'll call my friend Charlotte and see if I can stay with her."

But she made Nick promise that he would let her know when they found anything out. He promised her he would so she called and Charlotte readily agreed to let her stay. Nick made arrangements with Super Dave to drive Jackie home so she could pack an overnight bag, and then he was to drive her over to her friends' house just to make sure she got there safely. Before Jackie knew it she was in her friends' driveway.

"Thanks again for doing this David."

"Sure no problem, have a good night." He said.

"I doubt that will happen." She said sadly.

"Yeah I know what you mean." He answered.

She grabbed her bag and got out of the car, David watched until she was safely inside Charlotte's house. Charlotte noticed her friend looked tired, and she could tell she had been crying, her eyes were all red and swollen.

"Do you want some hot chocolate; I was going to make some for myself." Charlotte said, which was a lie, but she knew it was Jackie's favorite.

"Sounds great, thank you." Jackie said. Jackie sat down at the kitchen table as Charlotte put two cups of hot chocolate in the microwave, then she joined Jackie at the table.

"So how is Nick taking this?" she asked.

"I'll be honest, I am very worried about him, I have never seen him like this before, he is a mess." Jackie said.

"Well Jackie, that's understandable, he and Warrick were really close."

"I know, I just wish there was something I could do." Jackie said.

"All you can do is be there for him." Charlotte said. Then she asked "Do they know who did it?"

"No, they don't have any suspects yet, which scares me, I mean what if this psycho has a grudge against the entire department, and Nick's next in line." Jackie said with tears filling her eyes.

Charlotte grabbed her arm "Jackie don't let your imagination get the best of you or you will drive yourself crazy." She said.

"You're right." Jackie said.

After that the two women drank their hot chocolate in silence.

After they were done, Charlotte asked "so what do you want to do now, play a game, watch T.V, it's up to you."

"Actually Char, I don't want to seem rude, but the only thing that sounds good to me right now is sleep, is that alright?"

"Sure, no problem, your bed is already made upstairs, just make yourself at home."

"Thank you, and thanks for everything." Jackie said, giving her a grateful smile.

"Anytime girl, you know that."

The two women embraced and then Jackie went to get ready for bed. Sleep sounded good in theory but it would not come, Jackie just tossed and turned, eventually she must have fallen asleep though because when she woke up it was daylight. She got up and wondered into the kitchen; Charlotte was already up drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.

"How'd you sleep?" Charlotte asked when she came into the room.

"good, once I actually feel asleep." Jackie answered.

"That's good, want some coffee?" Charlotte asked.

"Please" Jackie said.

"What do you want in it, cream and sugar?" Charlotte asked.

"Vodka" Jackie joked, Charlotte laughed, dumped cream and sugar into the coffee and brought it over to the table for her friend.

"Thank you." Jackie said taking a sip.

Not two minutes after Charlotte sat back down again the door bell rang,

"Who could that be at this time of the morning?" She asked out loud as she went to answer the door. "It's Nick" she said after looking through the peep hole of the door.

Jackie quickly got up and started walking to the door as Charlotte opened the door and let him in.

"Nicky, did you catch the monster responsible for this horrendous act?" His wife asked quickly going over and grabbing his hand.

He nodded yes.

"Who was it?" Jackie asked.

"You're not going to believe it." He said.

"Why who was it?" she asked again.

"McKeen" Nick said, his eyes showing pure anger and hatred.

Jackie was stunned "McKeen, Jeff McKeen, the undersheriff." She asked.

"Yeah" Nick said so angry Jackie wondered if he would spit fire.

"But why would he want to hurt Warrick?" She asked.

"Because McKeen was involved in the whole Gedda mess and he knew Warrick wouldn't let it go." He stopped, took a deep breath and kept ranting. "I should have shot him Jackie, I should have pumped three or four rounds in him, I could have, after the car accident we were all alone and I had a gun on him, I should have pulled the trigger, that would have shown that bastard."

Jackie was very confused. "Honey back up a minute, what are you talking about, what car accident?"

"McKeen and Pritchard were trying to escape to Mexico" Nick began but his wife interrupted him.

"Who's Pritchard?" She asked. "The dirty cop that framed Warrick for murder." Nick said.

"Oh ok, continue." Jackie said.

"Pritchard shot McKeen causing McKeen to flip the car over a guardrail, Pritchard broke his neck in the accident but McKeen survived and crawled into the woods, I found him, he told me he killed Warrick because he had a big mouth, and then he called him stupid. He kept yelling at me to shoot him, he asked me what kind of friend I was. I wanted to shoot him so bad Jackie, I have never wanted to do anything so bad in my life, I honestly do not know what stopped me from just unloading on him. He was right about one thing though, had I been a true friend I would have shot him" Nick was so mad he was trembling.

"No baby, had you shot him it would have been a disaster, all that would have done is cause you to go to prison for murder, it wouldn't have helped Warrick in any way." Jackie said.

"It might not have done Warrick any good, but at least I would know I did right by him." Nick said.

"You did do right by him sweetheart, you caught his killer, Warrick gave his life fighting for justice, and he would be proud knowing his best friend went about achieving justice the lawful way." Jackie said.

Nick looked at his wife "thank you" he whispered.

She just smiled at him. He went and sat down on the couch, the exhaustion finally catching up with him. She went and put her arm around him. "Are you ready to go home?" He asked quietly?

"Yeah let me go pack my stuff, and then we'll go." Jackie said.

She got up and went upstairs to start packing.

Nick stood up, "Thanks for keeping an eye on her Charlotte."

"No problem, happy to help, I'm very sorry about Warrick" She said.

"Thank you." Nick said.

Jackie came back down quickly with her bags packed. With one last hug for her friend the couple left.

They drove home in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. When they got home Jackie offered to make Nick something to eat but Nick said that he just needed sleep and wanted to go to bed, and so that is what he did.

The next few days flew by in a blur; everyone was very busy planning the details of Warrick's funeral.

The day of the funeral the couples's alarm clock went off.

Nick groaned, "I don't even want to go." Jackie grabbed his hand. "Rick and I had plans to go to the gym today." Nick continued.

"I'm sorry sweetie." Jackie whispered.

"I really don't want to go to the funeral, I feel like if I do, it's official, he's dead. That's crazy isn't it, no matter if I go or not he's dead, but I don't know, it's weird, although I obviously know I have to go."

"It's not weird, I think a lot of people feel that way about funerals, especially if you were really close to the person." Jackie said.

Nick gave her a half smile and the couple got up and got ready to go.

The funeral was horribly hard for everyone, Grissom gave the eulogy, and even he couldn't keep it together, and anyone that knows Grissom knows that isn't like him in the least.

After the funeral everyone went to the cemetery, soon though Nick and Jackie were the only ones remaining, they just stared at Warrick's grave in silence.

"Honey, will you give me a minute, I won't be long." Nick asked.

She touched his arm "sure, take your time." She said.

She let go of his arm and started walking back to the car, as she did she heard her husband say "I'm sorry Rick, I'm sorry this happened, I'm sorry I didn't have your back that night, I hope you can forgive me, because I can't forgive myself, although I know you will because that is just the kind of person you are, you were and always will be a true friend, rest in peace bud, you earned it."

Nick then turned to go join his wife, he got in the car and Jackie noticed her husband had tears in his eyes but they were not running down his face.

"Are you alright?" she asked him gently.

"No, I'm not alright Jacks, I don't think I will ever be alright again." He said with one lone tear falling from his eye.

They drove home without another word, Nick didn't feel like talking, he didn't even really feel like breathing but breathing was just a formality.

They got home and Nick said quietly "I'm going to go change clothes."

"Ok" his wife said with a smile.

Nick came back downstairs ten minutes later and his outfit shocked her, he was in his workout clothes. "I'm going to the gym." He said matter of factly.

"Alright, I will see you later." Jackie said, not knowing what else to say.

Nick had his hand on the door handle-and then he lost it, he just started sobbing, Jackie quickly went over to her husband and grabbed him around the waist and led him to the couch.

"Oh Nicky, I'm so sorry, it's alright, don't cry." She said trying to comfort him, but it didn't seem to help, and then she realized that he just needed to cry, so she sat down next to him, wrapped both arms around him and they both had a long hard cry.


End file.
